Hawaii 2022

Round 2 of epic travel spring – off we go to Maui. Greg earned this trip at work, so it was an unexpected bonus trip, especially for me since I got to go too! As much as I live to travel, I don’t often fly home from Germany, work like nuts for 6 days, and then head out again to 7 hours in the opposite direction (but I am not complaining).

From home to Maui is a very long haul. Very early morning departure, got to US customs in Montreal before it was open, lucked out with the extra security screening, made it to our next gate in time for coffee, got called to the gate several times because of said extra security screening, boarded the plane, flew to San Francisco while watching movies, landed in SF and did laps on the ground around the airport because the gate wasn’t ready, rushed 20 miles across terminals in SF, found sandwich to eat on plane, boarded another plane, flew to Maui while watching movies, and finally arrived in Maui around 5pm their time (midnight for us).

We were greeted at the Maui airport with leis, but more importantly by our luggage arriving, and then we were whisked away for our home for the trip – Grand Wailea Maui (about 30 mins from the airport). Check-in was quick and painless. Found our room, dumped our luggage, changed, walked around a few mins, found some food, discovered we were too tired to eat it all, and called it a night.

Woke up in the wee hours of the morning (because time zones meant we went to bed before 8pm local time), chilled out until the sun was starting to come up, and off we went to explore. We had breakfast from the resort coffee shop and then wandered around to explore the lovely resort and along the walking path by the ocean – stopping often so Greg could talk to people he knows.

Overall, it was an uneventful day of chilling out on the resort and enjoying our balcony. We also walked over to the Shops at Wailea and had some lunch at Waikiki Brewing. In the evening, there was a welcome reception/dinner thinger we attended for Greg’s work.

Tuesday was another wake up before the sun kind of day (damn you time zones!), a long walk along the ocean before it was too hot, and then some eating and relaxing in or by the pool. Greg had a meeting in the afternoon, which left me with some additional chilling out time (which I literally spent in an air-conditioned room). Tuesday evening was another work dinner/reception thing for Greg’s work – followed by a private concert by Pat Benatar and her husband. I’m not really a fan, but she’s nearly 70 and she can still rock.

Tuesday night was the end of the work-related things, so Wednesday morning we were off on a Road to Hana tour with Temptation Tours. This was included for us in Greg’s package or we would have otherwise just rented a car and driven it ourselves. This drive is completely lovely, but it takes a long time with traffic and the back road was closed so you had to turn around and drive it back the same way. For me personally, it was way too much time in a van and not enough time getting to explore things that looked interesting to me. We were picked up around 7am and didn’t get back until after 5pm and at most we spent 4 hours outside of the van. The vehicle was nice and the guide/driver was fine, and if you’re uncomfortable on very narrow and winding roads, a tour is likely the way to go. We stopped at Pua’a Ka’a Falls so a few people could jump in, at Ke’Anae Park to check out the views, for some banana bread and shave ice at Halfway to Hana, at Hana’s Choice roadside stand to grab some fresh citrus, at Waianapanapa State Park to see the black sand beach and lava tube (with a bit of free time to actually explore around here), at Koki Beach Park for a picnic lunch, and at Hana Farms Roadside Stand (where some delicious vegan ice cream from Coconut Glen’s was found).

Before going to Maui, I had booked a tour with Maui Brewery Tours for the Friday we were there to do a tour of some of the local breweries. Maui Brewing Company (where the tour was to start) opted to rent out their brewery for the day for a private event and our tour was cancelled. Maui Brewery Tours reached out to see if we would be interested in the Thursday tour, but since that started in Lahaina (more than an hour from our resort) and not Kihei (15 minutes from our resort) and we had no vehicle, we had to decline. To solve the problem, they offered to pick us up and drop off us, something they don’t normally offer, so we could take the tour – which we happily accepted. Super impressed with their service (and they don’t own Maui Brewing, so it’s not their fault it was closed).

So Thursday, we were off to explore some more and drink some beer. Drive was about an hour to Lahaina and our first stop was Waikiki Brewing – beer flights and a choice of a giant pretzel or some onion rings was a great way to start the day. It’s a small location, but we had a tour of their setup as well. Stop number two was Kohola Brewing, where we had our choice of pint, flight, or alternate beverage. Final stop for the day, Mahalo Aleworks for more tasty beer and some pizza (you could have had a sausage instead). If you like beer and don’t feel like driving yourself around while you drink it, this is a great option. We had a fun day – I’d do it again. We didn’t leave hungry.

The novelty of $10 coffee at the resort had worn off by Friday, so we wandered over to the Starbucks at the Wailea Beach Resort next door to start our morning. Otherwise, Friday was a lazy day – ocean walking, enjoying the pool, another lunch at Waikiki Brewing (we had tried all the places at the resort already), and spending time on our awesome balcony.

On Saturday, it was time to head home but our flight wasn’t until nearly 11pm. We spent the morning chilling at the pool and then we packed up our stuff and checked out. We planned to kill some time in the afternoon by hitting up the last brewery on the island we hadn’t been to yet – Maui Brewing. Checked to make sure they were open and they were, grabbed and Uber and headed over – and closed for private event. Arg! It looks like an awesome spot though. Our awesome Uber driver recommended another option for us since we were already out and about and he dropped us off on South Kihei Road. We walked around exploring the shops, had some eats and drinks, and then decided that was enough walking around and we went to the movies to see the new Doctor Strange movie. After that, back to the Shops at Wailea for some supper at the Pint & Cork, some frozen goodness from Lappert’s, and then back to the resort to change and head to the airport.

Check-in was painless and security was quick. The terminal we flew from was a bit ghetto with pretty much nothing open that time of day (it wasn’t even 8 yet) and barely a functional plug to be found. Flight to San Francisco was weight-restricted (they couldn’t put the giant carry-ons people had under the plane and they had to fit in the cabin) and full of grumpy assholes. When we arrived in San Francisco 6 hours later it was still very early in the morning and we got notification our next flight was delayed enough that we were likely going to miss our final connection to home, but since we had checked bags, there wasn’t much we could do about it. Long layover in SF, where we had both breakfast and lunch and in between found a quiet place to just chill out. Flight to Toronto was uneventful – be shocked, we watched movies. Was off the plane quickly because we had a connection (they held everyone else), walked a million kilometers, went through customs, walked another million kilometers, and arrived at next gate all within 30 minutes (this may be my YYZ personal record). Final flight of the day delayed (along with nearly everything else learning Pearson that day), which means we actually caught it and even had time for coffee and tea.

Arrived back home a few hours late and very tired. Luggage decided to spend an extra night partying in Toronto, but it was delivered to the house the next day.

Grand Wailea is a very nice resort. It is showing its age and has been undergoing renovations. The parts that are finished are really nice – but it’s not finished and there was much jackhammering during our stay as a huge part of the lobby building was being worked on. The café and gym have also been moved while their locations are being worked on. I noticed the noise on occasion when at on our balcony, but otherwise it didn’t really impact anything and it certainly wasn’t a deal-breaker in paradise.

Hawaii is lovely and I wouldn’t hesitate to go back – I’d definitely like to check out the other islands. It’s expensive and right now even more so than normal, but the culture is intriguing and the people are lovely.

Ange out.

#GrandWailea #Hawaii #Maui #RoadtoHana